You make my dreams come true

Happy Groundhog Day!!!

The first groundhog day I ever celebrated was with good friends, Liz and Jim Pittcavage!

(borrowed photo from liz's fb page)

We watched the movie groundhog day and ate stovetop popcorn thanks to Jim.

I thought the movie was extremely depressing. I felt so bad for the guy and just wanted the day to end.

However, I watched it again while feeding baby and decided it's not so bad. So perhaps you should curl up with some popcorn and enjoy a little cinematic celebration of this fine/ridiculous holiday!

(call me if you need to borrow it)

Oh and the groundhog did see his shadow. 6 more weeks of winter to which I say BRING IT ON!!! With an average temp of 70 degrees, it can be winter til May according to me!

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger

I'm supposed to be working on a talk for church this sunday.

The topic is Christ before his mortal ministry

(basically what can we learn about Christ in the Old Testament and how that has impacted my life).

I'm at a loss. Any tips would be GREATLY appreciated.

So,

rather than reading conference talks and the scriptures,

I'm reading about parenting (hey, at least I'm not reading tabloid websites),

and I came across this great article!

Quirky Discipline Rules That Work

(You should really just read it, she says it better than I could)

But, quick glance for those who don't want to read the whole article:

1. You can't be in the room when I'm working unless you work too.

-Brilliant. They either really want to be with you and will help, or they'll leave you to get things done.

2. I don't work past 8 p.m.

-If they want bedtime stories and what not, no dragging their feet. Ahh I forsee watching Grey's Anatomy in peace...

3. You get what you get and you don't throw a fit

-Basically a more pleasing way to say life's not fair

4. Take that show on the road

-As a mom you really don't have to watch/listen to them perform hours on end or try to talk over them, they can continue playing in another room.

5. We don't argue about money

-Stop begging before it begins. If you say you're not buying something, end of discussion. Two sided though, you have to allow your children to spend their money how they choose.

6. I can't understand you when you speak like that

-Validate feelings, but don't tolerate whining, screaming, rude or otherwise unacceptable language.

7. There's no such thing as boredom

-Encourages kids to entertain themselves, use their imagination, etc.

I represent an entire generation

When you get pregnant the waves of advice never seem to stop.

Everyone's opinion about baby essentials was especially confusing.

I mean, some people were telling me to buy baby wipe warmer's (how ridiculous, as far as I'm concerned a little cold wipe on the tush should be incentive to not wake me up in the middle of the night ;)) to my parents saying all I needed were diapers, onesies, carseat and a crib.

And, though there is a lot of truth to my parents opinion, there have been a few other items that have been fabulous with zoey and made my life so much easier.


Como tomo bottles- absurdly expensive, but they make switching between nursing and bottle seamless, which according to friends is amazing, and according to me worth the money.


















Bouncy Chair, or anything really that will hold the baby that they will sit in, because sometimes you need your hands free and they don't want to be on the floor.





















SwaddleMe- Straightjacket for babies. It keeps babies from waking themselves up during their more active dreams. For a baby who moves a ton--it really does make a big difference in how long she will stay asleep.





















Snowsuit- Ok, this one is probably purely a Zoey thing... but the kid will not stay swaddled in a blanket. She hates to be confined. So a suit covers all her limbs, getting her toasty warm and she falls right asleep. Don't judge me--but we have nights where I'm desperate and put her to bed in her snowsuit because it worked.















Nursing cover- I just sewed one (from this pattern), but it's so much easier than fumbling with a blanket.

Oh and of course the boppy (or as Cary likes to say, my breast friend)... baby is conditioned so when I grab the pillow she calms down because she knows she's getting fed. Also, I'm able to write these oh-so-informative blogs because the pillow frees up a hand!

Anyhow, I'm not saying any of these items are neccesities, simply that to this tired mama these are worth every penny, buy again in a heartbeat items.

What are your baby essentials?

Lala how the life goes on

Stories of Nary

Wow, life got the better of me and killed my blogging momentum, but what better way to get back to business than with a Nary story.

One night during Christmas break, I am up feeding Zoey and my nose starts to run. Generally trying to be considerate of Cary sleeping (why do we both need to be sleep deprived?), I try to get through the feeding, but eventually decide I desperately need a tissue. So I nudge Cary and ask him to hand me a tissue (he was sleeping next to the tissues).

This is where Nary enters.

I ask for a tissue, and Cary hands me March of the Penguins on dvd. Then rolls over and goes back to sleep.

I stare quizzically at Cary and attempt to finish feeding Zoey, but within 5 minutes the snot is about to drip down my face and I am forced to again wake up Cary.

I say "Cary, I really need that tissue."

NARY responds "What the crap! I already gave you a tissue."

Me: "Ummm no, you handed me March of the Penguins"

Nary: "Why would I hand you March of the Penguins?"

Me: "That's a great question. No idea, but I need a tissue. NOW"

Nary: exasperated tone "Oh my gosh. Geez, here's your tissue"

Again... the hilarity factor definitely increases once my nose is wiped and morning comes when I can tell Cary about his late night alter ego.

Oh Nary...

Children behave, that's what they say when we're together

Baby is going through another growspurt, which means she eats every 2 hours, which means I'm not sleeping.

Yay.

I find it slightly less miserable if I pass the hours by reading random blogs (material that generally doesn't require much thought).

Anyhow,

Cary is trying to be supportive, and since Nary is no help, he goes ahead and takes the baby after the 7-9ish feeding and lets me get a nap before she eats next.

So this morning after I finish feeding the baby,

Cary offers to take the baby and I keep reading the blogs on my ipod.

He then tells me "put the ipod away you're supposed to be sleeping!"

I slide the ipod under my pillow.

Cary: "Just like a kid (scolding look), you're just gonna pull it right out when I leave"

Me: "No, I'm not"

Cary: "Yeah you are, give it to me"

Cary then lunges for the ipod, me: "NO I won't" as I throw it across the room

Yeah...

Mmmhmmm...

We're totally ready to be parents.

All the other kids with the...

Sometimes a laugh can fix a rough morning...



Thank You Ellen!

Don't you blink you might miss it

tidbits about zoey

3. Zoey is 2 months old today! Happy 2 months baby girl. She is almost out of newborn clothes, starting to vocalize more, sleeping better, getting cuter by the day, and... a pretty advanced baby ;)

yeah, yeah, yeah every new parent thinks their kid is advanced, but let's check out the milestone chart at babycenter.com

Advanced Skills for 2 months
Holds head steady-check
Can bear weight on legs- check
lifts head and shoulders during tummy time- check

Emerging skills for 3 months
Squeals, gurgles, coos- check
Recognizes your voice- (well mine, cary, and grandma) check

Advanced Skills for 3 months
Turns toward loud sound- check
Can bring hands together and bat at toys- check

Holding her own bottle!

So for the record baby girl... you're advanced! (Nevermind that she was 2 weeks late (and yes, I reserve the right to hold that against her for as long as I want))

It doesn't matter as long as we got eachother

Sometimes being in the student phase of life isn't always the greatest...
and then around comes Christmas break.

Cary has been home for a whole month! It has been glorious!

I LOVE having him around. We're definitely not a couple who gets tired of each other or needs our own space. I wish he could stay home all the time. We often ask ourselves why we didn't pull a bieber and make millions in our teens so we could stay home and raise our baby (maybe babies in the future) together, then open an ice cream shop as our retirement from parenting.

All I can say is
he has a pretty flexible schedule and gets to be home more often than most husbands/fathers...
but Zoey and I already miss having him around. Hurry up Spring Break!!!

Just look over your shoulder

tidbits about zoey

2. Zoey is already my little social butterfly. She loves going to crowded places and constantly looking around. She will let anyone hold her. And she's especially happy being held up to your shoulder so she can look over and see what's going on...

And he don't know...

Stories of Nary

Nary is Cary's alter ego, also known as Negative Cary. He only shows up in the middle of the night when awoken from a deep sleep. You would think after being married over a year, I would have encountered Nary before recent events... but I didn't often get up in the middle of the night before recent events.

The discovery of Nary

About 2 weeks after Zoey was born, I was getting up every 2 hours to feed baby girl and one night in the rush to calm the crying kiddo I forgot to grab the extra pillows at the end of the bed to lean against.

So, even though I try to avoid waking Cary up in the middle of the night (I want him to be rested for school, so he can get good grades, graduate and make lots of money), I tap him on the shoulder and ask him to hand me the pillows that are literally 3 feet from his hand.

Cary, turns, stares at me, and then with a voice of exasperation states "I'm too tired," and rolls over and falls back asleep.

Oh, was I steaming at that point. I was so angry--he's tired!?!?!

About an hour later as I'm rocking HIS baby back to sleep, he wakes up a little and asks a question which I answered in a snappy, irritated manor. He then asks why I'm so angry, and I refresh his memory of the previous encounter and he claims he has no recollection.

Hence, the realization that Cary has an uncontrolled, rude, alternate personality between the hours of midnight and 6am.


Stay tuned for more Nary stories... they're funny (once I get over the initial anger)

Play the music low

tidbits about zoey
(for those who aren't close anymore to get to know her yourself)

1. Zoey will not fall asleep on her own. She requires rocking, which the first few weeks of life nearly killed my back (rocking while standing, she knows when you're sitting and screams in protest)... until I discovered her love of music. She will almost always fall asleep within 10 minutes if you rock her and sing her to sleep.

Cary and I have decided she's destined to be a great singer with regular exposure to some of the greats at such a young age. She's also destined to write a novel titled "My life is a bad musical" because Cary and I are the worst singers you've ever heard....

She still gets a look of suprise when we burst into song... someday she'll just hang her head in shame.

December never felt so wrong...

No posts about zoey's first christmas.

I'll confess, december didn't go how I had planned, ok hoped. I was just trying to stay on top of the basics and didn't really touch on christmas celebrations/traditions at all.

C'est la vie.

It's a new year and I am getting a fresh start!

A few years ago I finally discovered a few keys to successfully completing my new years resolutions. First, keep it to 3 or 4 (generally, a spiritual, physical and intellectual for me) this keeps you from getting overwhelmed. Second, the goal has to be measurable (i.e. lose 10 pounds, not just "get in shape"). Third, you have to be accountable--whether to family, friend, cyberspace, whatever works.

My spiritual goal this year is to actually have Family Home Evening every monday. Before Zoey, I was great at dismissing FHE because every night was Cary and I at home... (if you ever need excuses I'm really good at them).

Anyhow, now that I'm a parent I figure there's a few things I should at least try to do ;)

Monday, we discussed our goals for the year, broke them down for the week and will report back next week on our progress. We also discussed President Monson's new years message, specifically attitude--a key to success in any area.

“Attitude, to me, is more important than … the past, … than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.” -Charles Swindoll

At least she has grandma's that buy her christmas ornaments and outfits :)

We're gonna party like, like it's two thousand and twelve

Happy New Year!

Baby girl slept while we rang in the new year...



In true mormon fashion, sparkling juice and all



Cary even has the drunken stupor down


And then we called it a night at 10:30... yup, yup we're majorly sleep deprived newbie parents. We don't sneer at the opportunity for sleep even if societal norms mock us for tunring in early.

It's been quite the year! Lots of fun times and good changes, but also probably the first since I was 11 years old where I didn't think "where has the year gone, I can't believe it's already New Years!" Eh, pregnancy can do that to ya...

Here's to a new year, full of parenting adventures, warmer weather, new friends in our new town and whatever else comes our way!

She's got hair like a superstar.... (not so much)

Zoey has developed Alopecia.

I'm pretty distraught. Yes, I suppose I am extremely shallow and would like my baby girl to keep her hair... but, it's more an extreme sense of guilt since she only lost all her hair after I gave her a bath last night. Her hair is still just as thick on the back of her head, but the top is totally bald! She has the hairline of a 50 year old man....

Or her 26 year old father?

You tell me?

It doesn't help that she's also developed a farting problem to rival an 80 year old man. Sigh, I have a lot to teach her about being a lady!

Oooh this is how it starts

Zoey is 1 month old!

(And she hates taking pictures as much as her mom)


stats on Zoey:

-She's starting to put some chub on. She weighs 9 lb 8 oz! Meaning she went from the 32% in weight up to the 50%. Such a good little eater! And she's in the 83rd% for height. (I don't know how I made a tall baby, but I'm real happy for her)

-She started smiling her 2nd week, but it still happens right after a good meal or after passing gas... but i suppose those two things make a lot of people smile

-Her first laugh in her sleep was on thanksgiving day

-She started tracking me with her eyes at 2 1/2 weeks.

-She holds her head up and looks around... this started early, but she's definitely getting stronger and almost to the point where I don't have to worry about supporting her neck

-She absolutely hates sleeping on her back, will tolerate her side, and sleeps best on her tummy. This makes me slightly paranoid about SIDS, but sleep deprivation wins and we do our best to make it safe for her to sleep on her side or tummy.

- Everytime she cries for more than a minute, cary plays me a lame movie about the period of purple crying... it doesn't help the situation.

-Cary wanted me to include, that she finally loves him more than her grandma. (He thinks she doesn't really love him--not true just different than her adoration of the baby whisperer).

Lately, she really likes to go through 3 diapers in about 15 minutes. She has this thing about waiting until she's in a clean diaper to finish her business. Family tells me that newborns don't plot--but if you could see her grin, you'd doubt too. I think she knows what she's doing and finds herself hilarious.

Seriously though, she's more fun every day and we're excited for all the big milestones to come!

And honestly to look you in the eye, it's easier to lie

I have a beautiful, healthy baby.

It'd be really easy to just post pictures of her and pretend life is shiny and perfect. It's easy to only mention the funny ancedotes and happy moments and allow everyone else to fill in the blanks with visions of a well adjusted mom who has finally reached her calling in life.

But why do I have to lie?

Because I'm afraid you'll quit reading? Possibly. But people listen to horribly depressing songs all the time. Because I'm afraid to admit I'm not perfect? Perhaps. Doesn't everyone want to be the person who makes it all seem easy. Because I am too prideful? Obviously. I only have one kid, and a supportive husband and my pride tells me that I am extremely capable of taking care of a baby.

And yet...

I feel like I'm falling apart. I feel defeated... by a cute (not so chubby) 8 lb baby girl.

I can't say that there's been one thing to tip me over the edge. It's everything. The three 2 hour bouts of sleep because of nighttime feedings that are supposed to get me from day to day are definitely catching up with me. The physical pain that typically begs a few days rest to recover, which will never happen. The heartbreak of that ;ittle quivering bottom lip when I can't figure out what my baby needs followed by desperation to make the crying stop. The inability to stay on top of chores, which equals a dirty home and is not helping with the lack of peace in my life. The exhaustion that compels me to collapse whenever possible, verses the need to stay on top of daily tasks and needs such as bathing and eating. The guilt of not doing anything to meet Cary's needs, when he's the only thing getting me from day to day.

And then of course there is my body image--i place way too much value on my appearance. The philosophy it took 9 months to gain the weight, it'll take time to lose it doesn't comfort me. My previously flat sculpted stomach from hours of concentrated workouts is now in a sad state of shriveled excess skin and stretch marks that no amount of ab workouts will ever make look half as good as helen mirren in a bikini. Nothing fits, which often crushes all resolve to get out and pull myself out of this rut. I pull the fat pants back on and one of Cary's t-shirts and allow myself to stay in all day.

If I could change even one thing would it be enough? I don't know. I suppose the only therapy I could come up with was to get it off my chest. So here it is.

Please don't feel the need to come to my rescue.

Like the title says "it's easier to lie." Ah, the weird quirk of my generation. We'll post our darkest feelings on the internet, but if you ask us point blank, we'll lie.

I have a case of the baby blues. Perhaps, I just needed to write it down so I remember what to expect next time.

Despite it all,
Let's just say,
I'm not so down that I don't still thank the heavens every day that I'm no longer pregnant!

Oh and for those who just look for pictures (I know you do mom, it's ok :) Here's a little humor to sum it all up.

I can tell by your eyes that you're not getting any sleep

I have started countless blog posts in the past weeks, and then baby girl wakes up or something else comes up and I never seem to finish writing the posts. So... maybe one of these days I'll finish them, but for today I'll just share a moment of my life via pictures.

Zoey loves sleeping in this position. What a goof!



I caught her laughing in her sleep. I wish she would laugh when she's awake, but I enjoy it while she's napping too. Wonder what she's dreaming about--probably her dad's dancing ;)



I'll be honest, sometimes life with a newborn feels a little overwhelming and I pause and think "What have I gotten myself into? Oh, what I would give for a 5 hour stretch of sleep!" And then she giggles in her sleep and it cracks me up and melts my heart. Those laughs get me through another day and hopefully soon they'll become daytime giggles and nighttime slumber.

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire

Family Dinner at the Tippets Residence

(Friend's brought us dinner tonight (it was delicious))

(**These friends have a 2 months old baby boy, which is how the conversation got started**)

Cary: Hey Zoey, your boyfriend is 13 lbs. How do you feel about that?

Carla: Oooh we have a chubby chaser on our hands.

Zoey: [thought: why won't they give me my pacifier]

Carla: ooh or you could go for J.B. I mean he's a year older than you, but definitely a good looking little boy... and he has cool parents too.

Cary: Well, it's not like you have much competition so I suppose you can make up your mind later.

Carla: Well there is [good looking friend's in the ward]'s daughter. She'll make for some stiff competition Zoey.

Cary: Whatever Zoey, your mom is much more conniving. [Good looking friend in the ward]'s lost her edge.

Carla to Cary: Conniving huh? I'm not sure how I got dragged into this... [dirty look]

Zoey: [coincidentally makes same dirty look]

**Haha I forsee lots of great dinner conversations once Zoey can also verbally contribute**

Just have a good time

Introducing:

Zoey Morgan Tippets


Haha I like making faces with her.

But this one is a little cuter.



Physical Stats on Zoey:
-Dark brown hair, and lots of it (stupid ultrasound tech didn't know anything)
-Dark blue eyes. They're gorgeous! (Although technically they could change by 6mos)
-Super long finger and toes.
-Born at 8lb 1 oz. She's long and skinny... with her mom's chubby cheeks. She probably carries a whole pound in her cheeks alone.
-She has a puffy right eye. It's some extra blood vessels and they're blocking a tear duct. It makes her eye look a little uneven but we still love her and it'll go away!

Characteristics from Cary:
-Skinny limbs
-Chill personality
-Not a morning person! She gives me the dirtiest look when I wake her up and then tries to pretend she's still asleep.

Characteristics from Carla:
-chubby cheeks
-dark hair
-good at making faces... and she rolled her eyes today (that's right--starting early)


Anyhow, she's a pretty cool baby. I'm stoked she's mine and I never have to give her back to anyone after holding her :)

And you're overdue

My Gratitude List Continued...

Sunday, November 6 2011
1. A friend who also delivered two weeks late. She understands that it's more than just one more week.
2. Ham. It's delicious.
3. My dad for words of comfort on a rough day.

Monday, November 7, 2011
1. West Wing. Sometimes all it takes is an old favorite to make a new obsession.
2. Delicious homemade dinner. Sometimes I outdo myself. Sometimes.
3. Cary coming home early--just because he knew it would make me happy.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011
1. Finishing sewing projects
2. Mom for helping me finish those projects
3. Shopping in Cary. All their stores have way better stock and selection than Durham. What's with that?

Wednesday, November 9, 2011
1. The good nurse at my dr practice. She's perhaps the only one--and she makes up for the rest of the stupid people at that practice.
2. Jamie. She wrote an awesome letter to baby girl, that reminded me just how many people are also anxiously awaiting her arrival.
3. A great home teacher who was able to help Cary give me a blessing.

Thursday, November 10, 2011
1, 2, 3. I'm scheduled to go to the hospital tonight!!!!! I seriously couldn't be more grateful. It has been a very physically painful week (with an extremely painful end coming I'm sure), and I'm soooo excited to say adios to pregnancy. I seriously couldn't be happier.

Feel the heartbeat in my mind

Day 12.

Despite my usual reservations, I might as well share some documentation--so you don't think I've faked this whole pregnancy, and everyone stops asking if my due date was calculated wrong (NO! Sorry, it's not that hard to figure out a due date, and don't try to cheat me out of 42 weeks... I'm mean that's almost a year!)




Ok, so I'm not very good at taking my own photo



Could my belly stick out any more?



Cary having fun shaving.



He's so weird :)

We also videotaped her moving in my stomach last night... but it's kinda creepy (read: looks like something out of alien) and i don't know how to cut it down to just the fun bits. I'll post if I figure it out, or have Cary help me later.

Ooh child, things are gonna get easier

I must admit, meltdowns aren't as few and far between as I'd like.

I'm frustrated with my body and the horrible stretch marks that continue to come out of nowhere and taunt me. I'm frustrated with the pain that never ends in a trip to the hospital. I'm annoyed with my less than tactful doctors who say all the wrong things. I'm jealous of all the friends on facebook whose bodies could figure out how to get a baby out and have cute little newborns. I'm annoyed with the constant advice to sleep now while I can--what in the world makes you think I'm sleeping? I go to bed at midnight only to wake up at 3 and flip seamlessly through channels til 6 am before I finally doze off only to get up 2 hours later for an 8 hour shift. And more than the advice, I'm especially tired of hearing "you're STILL pregnant!" Does it really warrant an "Obviously!" Thanks, you're not helping the situation.

oooohhh deep breaths

ok, sorry just thought maybe getting out of my head for a sec might help

Since 2005, I've always tried to dedicate November to the Attitude of Gratitude Challenge. Gratitude is a proven way to increase happiness in your life and a wonderful reminder of just how many blessings we have and that the Lord is looking out for us. So each day I list 3 unique items I am grateful for.... allow me to play catch up

November 1st
1. A baby that will soon be part of my family. Not everyone gets this blessing while on earth and despite complaints, I do realize how fortunate I am to soon have a little girl in my life.
2. Beautiful north carolina fall weather. 70 degrees with a cool breeze and fall leaves is enough to lift anyone out of a funk.
3. Ice cream

November 2nd
1. Comments at work that bring a smile--they are extremely rare these last few days of pregnancy. One lady said to me "You are all belly! Once that baby comes out you'll be right back to a flat stomach and my aren't we all going to hate you then!" Probably not true, but it was the perfect thing to say after hearing from every other customer how huge I am.
2. Heather bringing dinner over and chatting for a little while. The company was really good for me.
3. Modern Family. That show is hilarious, and I'm grateful to talented writers for sharing the laughs.

November 3rd
1. A Clean house. It puts my type A anxiety at peace :)
2. Warm showers. Really long one's. One of these days Cary will get to feel warm water again, but for now I'll take whatever therapy I can get!
3. My mom for her care and concern and delicious meals. Would I starve without her... no, but her food is a lot better than the toast and cereal I would have put together for dinner.

November 4th
1. I told Verizon no more! Oh how my body is grateful for this break.
2. I made a ginormous list of projects to keep myself busy this coming week, and I am already diving in!
3. Cary's love and support. He quits trying to cheer me up and lets me cry when I need to, and then turns around and makes me laugh to make it better. I don't know what I'd do without that boy--he just makes life better.

That for me, it isn't over

Still no baby.

Cary's friend's are all teasing him that she's already picked up the procrastination gene.

I wish I could totally blame him for that, but I'm not much better.

We had an ultrasound and baby is healthy. She supposedly weighs 8 lbs 2 oz, although the doc thinks she feels more like a 7 lb baby. She doesn't have hair :( And they won't induce me til 42 weeks unless something goes wrong.

I know it's just one more week, and in the grand scheme of things it won't matter. Heck maybe we'll have an 11/11/11 baby! ... but in my fragile emotional state, it was a big blow and I'll spend the rest of the day moping (mope-ing, not to be confused with mop-ing, def none of that going on) and watching grey's anatomy.

Stay tuned... everyone keeps promising me that a baby will eventually show up!

Everyday I'm shuffling

Still no baby. (I'm sure that's obvious by a lack of cute baby pics--I post this merely to remind my child in 10 years how much she tortured her extremely impatient mother ;)

Anyhow, I'm ridiculously excited to go into labor and constantly wish for it! I think I'm the only person who is gonna be beside herself giddy when the excruciating pain finally sets in. I can't wait to have my body back! I know... it'll take some time, but labor is the first step and I am ready.

But... in the meantime, Cary entertains me with youtube clips. Here's two of my fav this week






haha poor dog...

I am days away from change

As I continue to anticipate my awaited baby's arrival (wait, she's still gonna arrive, right? just checking. I'm starting to have doubts ;) I digress), I often think back to previous moments in life and what I would have told myself.

I think back on college, dating, single life, pre-pregnancy life in general and laugh at my growing list of What I wish I had known's...

Then I saw this video and smiled, because I think we all occasionally wish we could tell our previous selves our current knowledge.

haha I especially liked "Google doesn't have children." So true.

I need you to hurry up now

I know you all wished you worked in retail. Verizon Wireless in particular.

And I know you all wish you were pregnant dealing with the public.

Because then you can be speechless when your customer says (and i quote) "you must be having a girl, you know how I know that.... your nose is fat."

Seriously?

Yup, it's rare for me to be speechless, but I was.

(I contemplated posting a pic, but her psychotic ramblings don't deserve that sort of justification)

Between my psycho customers who say whatever the crap they want to and people who think it's ok to merge onto the highway going 35 mph--I'm about to lose my mind.


To Baby: Kanye says this best

Now that don't kill me
Can only make me stronger
I need you to hurry up now

'cause I can't wait much longer

I let the day go by

Went to the doctor today. Baby is chunky and still in my belly.

Dr said "Well, there's a lot of women who never get any stretch marks.... that's certainly not you, is it."

Oh everytime I close my eyes

Emily just commented on her blog that she hasn't posted much because it didn't seem like the appropriate place for it. I suppose I've felt like that through most the pregnancy.

Yes, I'm still pregnant. Yes, I'd like to see baby girl in the outside world as much as everyone else... or perhaps 50 billion times more. I don't post much, because I'm an awfully pessimistic pregnant girl, and all my smiles, and fake positive attitude gets sucked up at work by random strangers.

For liz: I do get tired of talking about it all day, every woman telling me her labor story, and people commenting on how huge I am--but I deal with it pretty well.

Although I don't help myself out, by coming home and looking back at all my friends pregnant pictures and realizing that their belly reached maybe half the size mine has (yeah, yeah, all my weight gain is in my belly--imagine how much pain that equates to when your little parasite entertains herself by poking her foot as far out as your already stretched to the max skin can take. I'm convinced I'll give birth by her ripping my stomach open herself. I digress).

Anyhow, I wasn't gonna post about pregnancy. Sorry. I'll be happy to tell the world, when baby is finally born.


On to the meat of the post!

For young women's this week, one of the girls was teaching about standards and explaining Mormon standards. She was explaining the importance of not doing drugs, dressing modestly and ended with the fact that we don't encourage tattoos because we respect the bodies we have been given and that's what makes us awesome.

"After all" she says "You wouldn't put a bumper sticker on a porsche, would you?"


(*Not to offend anyone with a tattoo, I just thought it was a clever way to explain our standards)

You turn me over and over

Well, the big day has come... and gone.

(That is, the day I had previously discussed with baby girl would be the right day for her to enter this beautiful sunny carolina home waiting for her (not my actual due date)).

I am not sure how this little misunderstanding is going to affect our relationship, but it currently is not shining favorably on our future mother-daughter bond.

Baby girl needs to hurry up and recognize I'm the stubborn one in this family, and I just want to share the baby one on one time with all the family anxiously awaiting her arrival!


P.S. current fav. song of the week: Matt Nathanson's "Faster"
It could just be b/c I'm preggo... but these lyrics sound like he's singing about his baby girl, it's cute.

"Faster"

You're so delicious
you're so soft
sweet on the tip of my tongue
you taste like sunlight
and strawberry bubble gum

you bite my lip
you spike my blood
you make my heart beat faster

own me, you own
you rattle my bones
you turn me over and over
'till I can't control myself
make me a liar
one big disaster
you make my heart beat faster

it's the way you swell, slow
pushing right out your seams
it's the way you smile, baby
when you've got me on my knees

your all night noise
your siren howl
you make my heart, beat, faster

own me, you own
you rattle my bones
you turn me over and over
'till I can't control myself
make me a liar
one big disaster
you make my heart beat faster

cause I jump back, crash, I crawl
I beg and steal, I follow you
yeah you own me
and you make my heart beat faster

(I can't get enough
because its on like
I guess this world is over to me)

you own me, you own
you rattle my bones
you turn me over and over
'till I can't control myself
make me a liar
one big disaster
you make my heart beat faster

The tourists come and stare at us

I'm starting to worry my baby is gonna come out orange and overly round...



Ready to pass the basketball... come on Cary it's your turn!



Dismiss the double chin (just bad angle), bad hair and complexion (it's 11 pm, long day at work and I'm pregnant people--give me a break!)